I made the most perfect pair of jeans for myself in the past 2 weeks, after the selfish seamstress have posted multiple jean teasers just to tempt me into making another pair of jeans for myself. (OK, I do have multiple other seamstresses/seamsters I stalk over the internet, she is just a temporary fixation that I cant seem to shake).
I love it! I used the awesome Anita Jean pattern from the awesome Burdastyle once again:
For those who knows me, I tend to not re-use a pattern after I have made something from it. I also almost never read instructions for any of the patterns I use. I think the reason is because I get a thrill from figuring out how to piece patterns together blindly, and once I have made one and figured it out, I lose interest and move onto the next puzzle.
However, Selfish Seamstress really know how to tease me with her 5ft figure (but unproven, who knows, maybe she is only 4’10, I have never met her in person!) looking good in her jeans, and there were a few flaws from my last year’s jeans that I would like to correct. Here is my last year’s jeans with its flaws:
- I may have not pre-shrunk my denim. I had no concept of preshrinking fabric until recently, as a result of not RTFM. The jeans have became a little too short for me.
- I did not interface my waist band. Now it is a little scrunched up.
- The fit around my butt was great, but now I wish the waist ended higher.
- the one i made was boot-legged, but now I wish for a flared one!
- The denim I chose had some elasticity in it and i wore it A LOT. after over 40 washes in my washer and dryer, it is a little… crumbly. It shows pantie lines, and I am trying to move away from thongs!
So I went off and made a new pair! Here it is, I hope you like! I will be posting an entry on how I altered the Anita pattern to get it looking like that and any tips I can think of for the jean makers in the next 2weeks, so please look out for it!
Material list:
- 1.5 yards of Trouser Denim City Weave Grey from fabric.com. It is sold out, and it isnt Grey. But it is 100% cotton with no stretch and a pretty light-medium weight. Its wrong side is light colored, which i think may be good if you want your jeans to have that faded look after multiple washes.
- 2 spools of beige(E8) HEAVY thread from coats and clark for both normal and top stitching, and a little bit of goldish(E8) thread of the same kind for part of the top stiching
- 1 spool of normal, thinner thread, beige, for some of the reinforcing stitches
- two jean buttons (it says easy jean repair, needs no hammering, i dont remember where i bought mine, but i think these are pretty good)
- 8″ metal zipper
- a pack of rivets from ebay (thanks for the tip SS!)
- size 16 sewing machine needle (did not break once!)
- thickest twin needle you can find(optional) mine broke right when it is finishing its last stitches!
Denim, $12. Zipper, $1. Buttons, $2. Rivets, $4. threads, $3. Anita pattern, $4. Jeans that fit like a dream? priceless!
March 11th, 2010 at 7:08 am
well welcome to the blogisphere!!! Love you on burdastyle and thanks to SS we now have your blog to follow. Cant wait to see more. Love the jeans to BTW. They are BETTER than RTW!
March 11th, 2010 at 10:24 am
*squeels* my first comment from someone I dont know before :D:D:D welcome to my blog! thank you for your compliments and I hope you come back again!🙂
March 11th, 2010 at 9:00 am
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!! Love it, and the super-wide waistband is a great detail.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:24 am
thank you! :D:D the wide band helps holding in my chubbys🙂
March 11th, 2010 at 11:07 am
AWESOME jeans! How is it that you find the time to sew jeans and write in your blog is a mystery to me! But you have been talking with me less online, so I see what you’ve sacrificed…… :-O
I’m thoroughly intimidated now. I look at the amount of work those jeans took and I think, “Sewing ain’t for me.” Thanks for killing the small flicker of hope in me!
March 12th, 2010 at 12:55 am
lol! you dont have to make jeans😉 there are much easier projects o tackle first! though, it really isnt THAT much work😉
March 11th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Hmm..I don’t know much about sewing. But from a layman’s point of view, they all look great on you! And look very professionally-made =)
March 12th, 2010 at 12:56 am
😀 layman?🙂 you are really funny! glad you like it!
March 11th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I love the color of the denim!!! I’m lucky that I can find jeans that fit me, but man, yours is making me wish I could sew!
March 12th, 2010 at 12:56 am
🙂 you CAN sew! how about that nice pink tie? before you know it, i can get you to sew a dress!
March 12th, 2010 at 8:34 am
yoooooooou’ve gotta be KIDDING me. those jeans are perfect. at 5’2 (and three quarters) i will be an avid reader– i’m so glad you started this blog! i always love seeing you over at burdastyle.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
:D:D shorties rule here🙂 thanks for the encouragement! come back soon as I have lots of blogging ideas!🙂
March 14th, 2010 at 12:41 am
[…] jeans, jeans, pattern, pattern alternation | Leave a Comment I had been wearing my awesome jeans everyday, and now im going to share how I altered the Anita Pattern to make a pair of butt hugging […]
March 15th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Love your jeans! Everyone’s tempting me with their wonderful jeans, but I’m still to scared to sew my own. 🙂
May 12th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
[…] (I’m thinking the Anita from […]
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